STEVE DAMISH: For downtown Brockton hotel, no rooms for errors

COMMENTARY: A city landlord faces a court-ordered Catch 22 when it comes to dealing with a tenant facing a drug charge.

The hotel manager did what any good manager would do during a drug raid at his establishment – he cooperated with police, secured the scene, and made sure his other tenants were safe.

Then, as usual, he set about making sure the person charged with dealing drugs from his rented room didn't return.

First, enforcement.

Then, prevention.

At least, that's what Chip Yannone thought, and what he and his family have been trying to do for four decades at the city's Elmcourt Hotel, his family-owned establishment in the heart of Brockton's downtown.

Since acquiring the property in 1971, the Yannone family has been fighting to keep the downtown landmark safe, free of crime, in the city's good graces – and in business.

It has often been a struggle. The hotel, on a secluded side road less than a block from Main Street, is often in the news for activity connected to drugs or prostitution, its location and low-priced rooms sometimes attracting the wrong element.

Last year, for example, there were close to 300 emergency calls to the Elmcourt, which is more rooming house than hotel. Twenty-six arrests were made, and 12 people overdosed

Yannone, to his credit, has always fought back, endeavored to improve. Several years ago, he renovated the 63-room hotel both inside and out, brought in new, professional help, installed state-of-the art security, and re-designed both the front desk, restaurant and public area to where they are as clean as they are quaint.

The resilient Brockton businessman, who has been coming to the hotel since age 7, is committed not just to the business and to Brockton, but his legacy, which is why he will forever tout the Elmcourt as one of the downtown's few, and true, success stories.

It's never easy, however, and a recent incident shows just what he is up against.

Two weeks ago, Brockton police raided two rooms at the hotel to shutter a small drug operation. They arrested two men, including Glenroy Niles, who had served prison time on a probation violation.

Niles was charged with one count of possession with intent to distribute a Class B substance. When police raided his room, they found Percocet, $2,317 in cash, a cell phone and a digital scale.

In an instant, he was out of the Elmcourt and in jail, held on bail. Just as quickly, Yannone – well versed in post-arrest protocol – set about repairing the damage. He cleared and cleaned the room, changed the lock, and warned his front desk to be more vigilant in screening tenants.

Three days later, however, Niles made bail and returned to the Elmcourt, demanding his room. Yannone, incredibly, had to comply.

Niles, it turned out, had obtained a court order saying Yannone had improperly evicted him. Turns out, the hotel manager hadn't filed the paperwork in court to remove the drug suspect.

And Niles moved back in.

Drug suspects do this all the time, Yannone said, and it needs to stop.

"Five out of six people who have been arrested in these raids have ended back on my front door either that day or the next day wondering why they can't stay," he said.

Steve Damish is the managing editor of The Enterprise. He can be reached at sdamish@enterprisenews.com.

An arrest is not enough to kick Niles out. Yannone must first spend his time at court seeking the proper paperwork. That's not all. To make sure a suspect stays out, Yannone must also spend his money and hire the Sheriff's Department to come and catalog the suspect's belongings. Then, he must pay to have them removed and stored.

Niles, in his defense, said he is the victim in this situation, not Yannone.

"If I go to trial, and I beat the case, then you kicked me out for nothing," he said.